THE SECOND MILLENIA
AD 1000 -- AD 2000

1811: The Great Comet!

Look!! Up in the Sky!!

It's the Great Comet -- Or Maybe It's the End of the World!

     In the eyes of William Burchell, the glittery streak of gold, red and white that streaked through the night sky of Cape Town, South Africa, represented Armageddon.

     "This certainly will be the end of Cape Town," the pessimistic Burchell wrote in his journal June 12, 1811.

     Burchell's concern was shared by millions. From Moscow to Munich, Havana to Halifax, Rome to Rio, the awesome light show -- which was the Great Comet of 1811 -- was considered a bad omen to some, a majestic sight by others.

     The people of Cape Town were sure that the comet was a signal from the heavens. For centuries, comets were interpreted as signs of impending disaster. South Africa had suffered through a devastating earthquake just 10 days before the comet appeared, and many thought the comet signalled the final blow.

     The world certainly would end within 10 days, astronomers who watched the Great Comet feared. News reports around the world chronicled the laser, seen nightly above the Earth until the early part of 1812.

     When was the comet going to smash into the planet? And what exactly was this fiery mass that burned through the night?

     "This is a sign from God," Juan Pio Perez of the Yucatan said.

     An explorer from Oregon watched the comet while in his canoe on the Columbia River. He heard tribal stories about the Great Comet.

     "The Indians once said (the comet) was placed there by the Good Spirit to announce to them the glad tidings of their arrival," Alexander Ross said. "They implied that our (expedition) to Oregon was sent to them by the Good Spirit or Great Mother of Life."

     Despite the obvious fear of danger, the Great Comet of 1811 was an astronomer's dream. There had been many comets visible to the naked eye since the beginning of time, but nothing compared to this. And for 10 months, the icy mass of gasses and rock scared and mesmerized them.

     A Frenchman named Honore Flaugergues was given credit for discovering the comet March 25, 1811. It did not take long for telescopes from Germany, Cuba, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Japan, and India to focus on the cosmic wonder.

     The comet was last detected Aug. 17, 1812. But don't fret. Astronomers said it will reappear above the Earth's sky...in about 3,000 years.